Lady Cyclones turn back Lady Rebels

Allen LaMountain, Sports Correspondent
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Sep 12, 2018 at 12:38 AM

ELIZABETHTON — Sullivan South’s girls soccer team got an early gift from Elizabethton in the form of an own goal, but the Lady Rebels were unable to take advantage of the break and fell 5-2 on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Stadium.

In the third minute, a sequence went horribly awry for the Lady Cyclones when sophomore Siana Roby’s pass to Baylee Creasy skipped past the junior goalkeeper and rolled into Elizabethton’s goal, giving South (2-4-2, 1-2 District 1-AA) a 1-0 lead.

“We didn’t capitalize on the momentum of that goal,” Lady Rebels coach Luci Creech said. “Elizabethton did well to connect passes to each other, so we ended up reacting to that a lot. We played a little too much kickball. We had some good chances to score and that’s something we have been working on. We just wound up reacting too much.”

The Lady Cyclones (7-2, 3-0) got the equalizer in the 10th minute off a set-piece corner kick from senior Abbey Townsend, who found junior Cami Davison in the crease. Davison headed the ball past Lady Rebels goalkeeper Katerina Johnson.

Elizabethton had the better of shots on goal, 10-2, but South had the more direct kicks with seven as the Cyclones had as many offside calls.

Junior striker Kaylen Shell scored for Elizabethton after receiving an over-the-top pass from senior Cassidy Kaldy at the 25-yard line.

“We didn’t necessarily deal with their offside tactics that well,” Lady Cyclones coach Bill McClay said. “That’s something for us to work on. We created some good chances. Kaylen had one go just inside the post and we had several that just went wide. We were dangerous on set pieces today.”

Shell outraced a South defender and beat Johnson low to her left side to give the Lady Cyclones a 2-1 advantage they carried into the halftime break. Elizabethton struck for a goal in the 59th minute on a goal from junior Lexi Brown — with an assist from Davison — for a 3-1 lead.

The Lady Rebels fought back quickly after a Cyclones foul set them up with a free kick from 18 yards out. Rachel Phillips took the direct kick and fired a high shot that Creasy caught momentarily before allowing a rebound that Mattie Topping blasted into the net.

One minute later, however, Shell scored to restore Elizabethton’s two-goal lead. In the 75th minute, Maggie Johnson capped the scoring with another Lady Cyclones goal.